TPHS Grad and Olympic Gold Medalist Rachel Buehler Named Star of Month

The San Diego Hall of Champions announced Wednesday that it named three Olympic athletes and two Padres players as Stars of the Month. Torrey Pines High School graduate Rachel Buehler was one of those accomplished athletes to make the list. Buehler, of Del Mar, and fellow Olympic athletes Kelly Rulon and Felix Sanchez joined Padres Chase Headley and Eric Stults as the Stars of the Month for August.

This was not Buehler's first trip to the Olympics. She also helped the U.S. earn the gold in 2008. She was also recognized by the city of Del Mar at its city council meeting last month.

The San Diego Hall of Champions provided these bios:

RACHEL BUEHLER (Soccer, Olympics, Torrey Pines High grad)—Scoring goals is the most dramatic way to collect an Olympic gold medal but in a team sport like soccer, you also have to shut down the other team and Buehler helped do just that as the United States scored an emotional 2-1 victory over Japan just as she did four years earlier in Beijing.

CHASE HEADLEY (Baseball, San Diego Padres)—There was talk early in the month Headley might be traded. Instead, the Padres held onto their third baseman and all he did was earn National League Player of the Month honors, batting .306 with an NL high 33 hits, 10 homers, 31 RBI and 20 runs scored. For the month he had a healthy .611 slugging average, lifting the Padres to an 18-10 record.

KELLY RULON (Water Polo, Olympics, USDHS Grad)—Although the former UCLA standout had a bronze medal for water polo in the 2004 Olympics, she returned to help the U.S. capture gold with an 8-5 victory over Spain in the London Olympic Games. For the tourney she scored four goals and was a steadying influence on the American team.

FELIX SANCHEZ (Track, Olympics, University City High grad)—Sanchez’ story as a quarter-miler in high school who went on to win the only gold medal in the Dominican Republic’s history got a dramatic update in London when he returned to the track to capture his second gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles in 47.63 seconds.

ERIC STULTS (Baseball, San Diego Padres)—When the Padres came up short of starting pitchers, they went to Stults and he delivered nicely, posting a 4-0 record with a 2.02 ERA in 35.2 innings. In that span he allowed eight earned runs, walked just seven and fanned 21 batters. Another key stat: Stults allowed opponents just one home run.

To read more about Buehler, Rulon, Sanchez, Headley and Stults, visit the San Diego Hall of Champions website at sdhoc.com.